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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Buy me a box of chocolates and I'll be ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The King held a masked ________________.
  4. You can't go backstage without a ________________.
  5. We wanted to take a walk to ________________ the time.
  6. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  7. That must've been a ________________.
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  10. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  11. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  12. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  13. How do you ________________ your surname?
  14. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  15. The fisherman caught a huge ________________.
  16. Check the label for the sugar ________________.
  17. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  18. I was having a ________________ recording these guys.
  19. No doubt you will be able to ________________ the examination.
  20. I play ________________ in a jazz band.
  21. TikTok makes it very easy to create ________________.
  22. The kitten curled into a ________________.
  23. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  24. Turn up the ________________ so we can feel the beat.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. content — happy
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. ball — a dance
  4. pass — a permit
  5. pass — to spend time
  6. bat — for baseball
  7. rush — a thrill
  8. rush — hurry
  9. fork — a garden tool
  10. fork — in a road
  11. spell — magic
  12. fork — to eat with
  13. spell — letters
  14. bat — in an idiom
  15. bass — the fish
  16. content — the amount
  17. bat — the animal
  18. ball — a great time
  19. pass — to succeed
  20. bass — the instrument
  21. content — videos and posts
  22. ball — a round shape
  23. spell — a short time
  24. bass — low music

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com